A video clip of what appeared to be a Victoria’s Secret style lingerie runway show at Chengdu University of Technology went viral in China, receiving hundreds of thousands of hits in just 4 days. And not long after, high resolution pictures of the show started to show up in various BBS and hit headlines of several big portal news websites.

According to a news article by Netease, the lingerie show was part of a grand graduating show put on last spring by the University’s School of Radio, Film and Television. All designs showcased were from the School’s fashion design students, hand-made. The models, too, were students majored in modeling at the school.

The news sparked debate about whether a lingerie show is appropriate for college students. Many hold the view that it is not a big deal, just a group of young people having fun and showing their creativity. Others, however, think that China has been “opened-up” too much and college girls shouldn’t be allowed to walk in only bras and panties on campus, whatever purpose it is for.

What makes this more interesting is a news report from China Daily on March 5, “Lingerie market gets bigger and better.” In the article, Yang Shibin, leader of the China Knitting Industrial Association, commented, “[vendors of underwear] they are not selling the products but a culture and a lifestyle.”

According to statistics from cloth.hc360.com, one of the biggest business websites in the clothing industry in the country, the total revenue of China’s intimate apparel market in 2010 was 3 billion euros ($3.9 billion). It is experiencing an annual growth rate of 10 percent.

Among the potential consumers of about 525 million for intimate apparel in China, 21 percent of them are aged 15 to 24 and 41 percent are aged 25 to 44. The latter has more purchasing power than the former.

The statistics show that about 140 million Chinese people prefer high-end intimate apparel and their annual budget for clothes including underwear is 300 euros a person.